http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/heat-vision/buffy-remake-finds-home-warner-48105Warner Bros. has picked up the movie rights to the remake of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with Charles Roven and Steve Alexander of Atlas Entertainment boarding as producers.
THR broke the news in May 2009 that Vertigo’s Roy Lee and Doug Davison were working with original movie director Fran Rubel Kuzui and her husband, Kaz Kuzui, on a new movie version. Joss Whedon, the man credited with Buffy life, was not involved at this time, causing much hand-wringing amongst fans.
Whedon is still not involved but Whit Anderson, an actresss-turned-screenwriter is. It was her draft that attracted the interest of Atlas.
Atlas convinced Warners there was potential and not fan ire in a reboot, with Warners now optioning the rights from the Kuzui and from Sandollar Productions, run by Sandy Gallin and Dolly Parton, for Atlas and Vertigo to produce.
Originally a 1992 movie starring Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry, Buffy found success on TV, creating stars of not only its cast, headlined by Sarah Michelle Gellar, but Whedon as well. It also served as a launching pad for writers, such as Marti Noxon who has gone to write the upcoming remake of Fright Night.
Details of the film are being kept under wraps, but I can say "while this is not your high school Buffy, she’ll be just as witty, tough, and sexy as we all remember her to be,” said Roven in a statement.
(Emphasis my own)
I don't understand why they would want to remake this movie in the first place. The original isn't that old, and it wasn't that bad. I sure as hell can't figure out why they would want to remake this without Joss Whedon. Joss is, afterall, the creator of the show and many other VERY successful creations like it. (see: Buffy the Vampire Slayer the Show, Angel, Serenity, Firefly, Dollhouse, and several comics). This just seems to me like Warner Brothers trying to slap Whedon in the face for something good that he has created.
I actually noticed a petition about it on Facebook today and signed it, but I've lost the link to the site where the petition actually is.
